National News

Pop fan 'was fumbled on camera'

Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis is charged with 13 counts of indecent assault dating back to 1973 and one count of sexual assault in 2008

Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis leaves Southwark Crown Court in south London, where he is charged with 13 counts of indecent assault dating back to between 1976 and 2003, and one count of sexual assault in 2008.

A teenage pop music fan has told a court how DJ Dave Lee Travis "had a fumble" up her skirt on camera as he presented an episode of Top Of The Pops.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was 17 when Travis indecently assaulted her at the BBC studios in Shepherd's Bush in 1978.

Her friend, also giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court today, said when she watched the episode back later that week it appeared the footage had been edited, just as the victim was "grimacing" next to Travis.

The alleged victim said the two were coaxed to appear on screen next to "big star" Travis as he introduced the next record by the Smurfs. It was then that she was assaulted, the court heard.

Giving evidence behind a curtain, the alleged victim said: " He (Travis) put his arm around myself and pulled me towards him. It was cosy on screen.

"Then he slipped his hand down and put it up my skirt. The skirt would have been lifted from the back.

"I can only really describe it as having a fumble of my bottom area. I think he was trying to get into my underwear."

She said she couldn't remember how the incident ended.

"I felt violated," she said. "The main thing is the camera crew was there, in front of all these people - that's what made it uncomfortable."

The witness's friend, who joined the alleged victim on the set, said the footage of them had been edited down by the BBC - or "shrunk".

"The introduction to the (next) record was (originally) a lot longer," the woman said.

The jury heard that the witness told police she thought the footage had been edited by at least six seconds.

"When I watched it back there was just the head part, not the body shot of us which would have been there originally."

Defending, Stephen Vullo a sked if she had colluded with her friend to provide false evidence against the DJ,

The woman, who referred to Travis as "the hairy monster" said: "I'm not."

She said she would not "waste time coming here to tell a load of lies", adding that she did not want to come at all "because it's such a high profile case", and said it was both "scary" and "nerve-wracking".

The witness described how the pair agreed not to tell anyone about the incident.

She told the court: "I asked what she (her friend) wanted to do about it (the alleged fumbling) but felt nobody would really believe what happened.

"He was a big famous DJ, we were nothing. We decided to go home and say nothing."

Earlier, a teenage hotel worker at a coastal beauty spot told the court how Travis - also known as DLT and the Hairy Cornflake during his time as the Radio One breakfast show presenter - allegedly indecently assaulted her as she checked him into his room.

The woman said she felt "awful" as Travis began fiddling with her blouse as they took a lift to his room.

Once inside, the veteran DJ - in the North Cornwall town of Bude as part of a Radio One concert - allegedly began to "envelop" her with his arms, rubbing her lower back and bottom.

She said the incident lasted "15, 20, 30 seconds, but it seemed to go on forever".

Asked by prosecutor Miranda Moore QC why she did not complain to senior managers or police, the woman said: "I was afraid that Mr Travis was a big star and I would be laughed out of town.

"I was a naive country girl."

The woman was 18 or 19 when Travis allegedly assaulted her in the 1980s, she said.

After being "relieved" to leave the lift and reach the room, the woman said Travis instructed her to take his bag to his bed.

She said: "He then had his arms around me and enveloped me and gave me a massive bear hug.

"I was horrified, I was held very firmly.

"He carried on hugging me. He started rubbing his hands up and down my top and lower back, and then on my bum."

After being released, s he said she spent the rest of her shift in fear that Travis would confront her later.

She told the court: "He approached the desk. He said: 'Will I be having the pleasure of your company later on?'

"I didn't answer the question. I just thought something was terribly wrong."

Both alleged victims said they came forward to police after seeing Travis give a television interview dismissing any involvement in allegations linked to the case of shamed entertainer Jimmy Savile.

Travis, wearing a dark jacket, pink shirt and a tie emblazoned with the word "BLAM", shook his head, groaned and sighed throughout the evidence.

Travis, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, is charged with 13 counts of indecent assault dating back to between 1976 and 2003, and one count of sexual assault in 2008.

The 68-year-old, from Buckinghamshire, is accused of assaulting 11 women, one of whom was 15 at the time of the alleged crime.